Weft tension-holding device for looms



Feb. 19 1924.

' A. G. HANNAH WEFT TENSION HOLDING DEVICE FOR LOOMS Filed May 23, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 19 1924.

1 8 ,87 A. G. HANNAH WEFT TENSION HOLDING DEVICE FOR LOOMS Filed May 25 1922 2 Sheets-Shqet 2 WITNESS Fatented Feb. 19, 1924. a r I i L .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.ALEXANDER G. HANNAH, 0F WARREN POINT, NEW JERSEY.

WEFT TENSION-HOLDING DEVICE FOR LOOMS.v

Application filed May 23,

To all whom it my camera:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Gr. HAN- NAH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Warren Point, in the county of Ber-. gen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Weft Tension-Holding Devices for Looms, of which thefollowing is aspecification.

This invention relates to that class of means heretofore proposed for use in looms for clamping or gripping the filling or weft. after the shuttle has passed and between the shuttle and the nearer edge of the fabric with the object of avoiding kinks or loops in the filling being left in the cloth and also of preventing untimely actuation of the weft-fork and the stopping or other mechanism controlled thereby through the filling being unduly slack.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a'mechanism of this class which may be used with equally good results in insuring the filling being properly held until bound in the cloth by the changing of the shed whether the filling be strong or exceedingly weak.

In the accompanying drawings,

F ig; 1 is a view showing the breast-beam and batten of a loom in section and my filling controlling mechanism in side elevation, partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a view mainly in plan of what is shown in Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section of said mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the part of said mechanism which is carried by the breast-beam j Fig. 5 is a plan and side elevation of the grid and Fig. 6 shows in section the batten and grid and also the member which coacts with the grid to hold the filling; and

Fig. 7 shows in plan a modification of the invention.

a is the frame of the loom, 1) its breastbeam and 0 a bracket which isfixed to the rear face of and projects rearwardly from the breast-beam. d is the batten arranged to move toward and from the breast-beam in the usual way,e is the reed carried thereby, a shuttle box at one end of the batten (it eingunderstood that .there is another shuttle box at the other end) and g is the shuttle adapted to convey the filling A through the sheds, across the batten, in the usual way. Q p

1922; Serial No. 562,992;

The rearwardly projecting I part of the bracket 0 is a fork (see F ig..2) and in this is arranged to oscillate a rod or shaft 71. which has one end bent, as at h, forming a crank. On this rod or shaft is a blocki which the shaft penetrates, they being adjustable relatively to each other around the axis of the shaft and when so adjusted being adapted to be secured by a set screw j tapped into the block and bearing against the shaft. Several parallel prongs 7c are secured on the top of the block by means of a clamping plate Z and a screw m. The

prongs are of suflicient length to overreacl". the batten when the same moves to its forward position, or approximately as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The lever formed by the elements h, z and k is freely movable up and down, pivotally, in the bracket 0, being normally'held depressed'by ravity; but its depression may be assisted,

if desired, by the spring n shown in Figs.

'1, 2 and 3. i i

The membervconstituted by the said lever 15 one of two members coactive to grip the filling when the batten is at the forward part of its back and forth movement. The other of suchmembers maybe constituted by the grid shownbest in Figs. 5'and 6 which in the example illustrated takes the form of a plate 0 secured in a suitable recess p in the top of the battenand having a series of parallel prongs 0 extending from one edge thereof and rebent over the top of the plate in spaced relation thereto. I The prongs of the lever are so arranged that when the lever is allowed to fall, which is when the batten is at the forward part of its stroke, they will alternate with and pass downward betweenthe prongs 0 ofthe grid, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6.

Projectin secured to t e batten is an arm or horn g; to allow this horn to move forward with forwardly from and suitably the batten without interference with the breastbeam the latter may be cutaway, as

at 1". This horn constitutes a cam on which rides the end of the arm h of the aforementioned lever, the top or the acting surface g of the arm presenting a convex curve forthe greater portion of its extent, that is to say,

excepting adjacent the batten, where it presents a concave curve. During each forward and back movement of the batten the convex part of the surface of the cam serves to I maintain the lever elevated (the full line position iofthe lever as'shown in Fig. 1) while the arm h is in contact therewith, but when the arm is in contact with the concave part of the cam the lever falls (dotted position, Fig. 1). g

It will be understood that my improved mechanism (comprising the grid, the lever coactive therewith and the cam for controlling the lever) will. be duplicated in the lodm, there being one such mechanism at each side of the fabric.

When the batten is at the backward part of its stroke, the lever stands elevated as shown in Fig. 1 to permit the fiight of the shuttle, leaving the filling A extended across the grid and under the prongs of the lever.

.lVVhen the batten is at the forward part of its stroke the lever will have descended (dotof the stopping or any other mechanism which it controls) the filling would be nevertheless held at the proper tension by the coacting gripping instrumentalities of my mechanism; thus kinks or loops in the filling H can not be leftin the fabric and the weft ftirk is prevented from-goinginto action prematurely.

Various adjustments, according to conditions, are possible. Thus, part 2' is can be adjusted around part Z1, as already explained. Or the hornor arm or the bracket 0 and the parts it carries can be adjusted vertically on the batten and breast-beam, respectively. Such adjustments change the posi tion of the vertical field of play of the lever 70, 2', in without changing. the extent of its movement or the nature thereof materially. Or the horn or arm 9 can be bent (it is prefcrably somewhat malleable) to vary its curvature, and especially the curvature of its cam surface g, at will, so as to vary the extent of the movement of said lever and also the timing of its movements.

It is not new in this art to arrange the moving one of the two filling gripping in- :"trumentalities to move downward toward the batten into the gripping relation but so far as I am aware it is new to place this moving instrumentality on the breastrbeam or other fixed part of the loom, rather than on the batten, which arrangement eliminates said instrumentality being influenced by the inertia incident to its being carried back ward and. forward. This distinction is important where weak filling is being used and where the gripping a ction of the mechanism is required to be quite delicate and yet effective.

So far as I am aware it is new also to provide a cam for actuating the movable one of the instrumentalities for effecting the gripping of'the filling, a cam having the very important advantage that the movements of saidmember take place gradually and smoothly and so make it possible for the mechanism to be used effectively on very weak filling.

In the modification shown in Fig.7 the mechanism is designed for use in a box loom, the lever being constructed so that it cannot interfere with the filling of those shuttles which for the time being are out of action and (as in the weaving of broad stripes or large plaids) extends from points in the fabric more or less forward of its fell, as at A A. The bracket 0 is in this case placed nearer the end of the breastbeam. The shafth? has its crank h at its outer end, the cam 9* being arranged on the batten to register with said arm. The block 2" is arranged on the inner end of the shaft and the parallel prongs is, secured to the block by the plate Z and screw m so as to project inwardly from the block, have their free ends bent ofi' at right angles toward the batten so asto cooperate with the grid 0 the same as above. By this arrangement the fillings A A traverse the mechanism in such a way as not to be interfered with by the same, it being noted that they cross only the prongs k and in the region,- more over, where the extent of their movement is inappreciable.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, the fixed structure of it a loom, a batten-including structure arranged to move back and forth therein, means to pass filling back and forth across the batten-including structure, coacting instrumentalities to grip the filling arranged on the respective structures, the one of said instrumentalities which is on the fixed structure being an up and down movable member, and a cam to actuate said member arranged on the batten-including structure.

2. In combination, the fixed structure of a loom, a batten-including structure arranged to move back and forth therein, means to pass filling back and forth across the batten-including structure, coacting instrumentalities to grip the filling arranged onthe respective structures, the one of said instrumentalities which is on the fixed structure being an up and down movable lever,- and means to actuate said lever on each back and forth movement of the batten-including structure, said lever including a fillinggrippingpart and apart'to be engaged by said means adjustable relatively to each other around the fulcrum axis of the lever.

3. In'combination, supporting means ineluding a fixed structure and a batten-including structure arranged to move back and forth in the fixed structure, means to pass filling back and forth across the battenincluding structure, coacting members to grip the filling arranged on said means, one of said members being a lever movable toward and from the other member, and a cam to actuate said lever, said lever being arranged on one and the cam on the ether of said structures and the lever including a filling-gripping part and a part to be engaged by said means adjustable relatively to each other around the fulcrum axis of the lever.

4. In combination, the fixed structure of a loom, a batten-including structure arranged to move back and forth therein, means to pass filling back and forth across the battenincluding structure, coacting members to grip the filling arranged on the respective structures, the one of said members which is on the fixed structure being oscillatory on an axis substantially parallel with and having a part thereof bent from its axial portion toward the batten, and means to actuate said member on each back and forth movement of the batten-including structure.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALEXANDER G. HANNAH. 

